Conference – Financial Posthttp://business.financialpost.com
Canada Business News | Financial Updates & InformationFri, 18 Aug 2017 04:57:52 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.com/http://1.gravatar.com/blavatar/b4ece3189893389a03f063830eacd95c?s=96&d=http%3A%2F%2Fs2.wp.com%2Fi%2Fbuttonw-com.pngConference – Financial Posthttp://business.financialpost.com
Five tips for conferencing like a pro (and/or getting value out of the experience)http://business.financialpost.com/executive/business-education/five-tips-for-conferencing-like-a-pro-andor-getting-value-out-of-the-experience/wcm/806ae6ec-67ab-4fef-b2a0-33f50a940120
http://business.financialpost.com/executive/business-education/five-tips-for-conferencing-like-a-pro-andor-getting-value-out-of-the-experience/wcm/806ae6ec-67ab-4fef-b2a0-33f50a940120#respondThu, 24 Nov 2011 11:00:58 +0000http://business.financialpost.com/?p=110620]]>Conferencing can be awesome, but the expense both in terms of time and money can be onerous – particularly as a student. To help you garner some value for that expense, I’ll focus on some of the aspects of conferencing you may not consider that help make it particularly worth your while. Here are five tips for conferencing like a pro (and/or getting value out of the experience):

1.) Get in Cheaper

The thing about being a student at conferences is that there are commonly options for getting in cheaper. First, ask about a student rate. While not every conference has one, it is an awesome option if you can get it and can save you even half of the registration fee. Second, ask if you can volunteer your way in, which typically means assisting with things like registration, setting up for sessions, and/or answering questions for attendees. Volunteering can get you in free – so it’s worth it. Plus, getting face time with conference organizers and attendees doesn’t hurt either.

Sure, conferences are great opportunities to meet people, and there are lots of people to meet. Instead of trying to get in front of everyone (which makes it easy to appear disingenuous when you say “you are someone I’ve really wanted to talk to”), pick the folks you really, sincerely want to have a quality conversation with, and connect with them. Know something about them and/or have specific questions you’d like to ask, and be awesome when you do.

ROI: Attend sessions you are actually interested in, learn something, and make connections with the people you want to meet.

3.) Stay With Friends

Yes, you can have your own room. But let’s be honest, there is little better than the shared experience and not bonding with your colleagues at a conference is a missed opportunity. So shack up, and give yourself something positive to remember together when things in life or in school aren’t so rosy. If you’re lucky, you might even come up with that million-dollar idea. And if not, you still might get your hands on a great term paper concept.

ROI: Strengthen relationships; create great stories and new ideas.

4.) Follow Up, Or Don’t Ask

Conferences are all about “I’ll email you!” – but beware some do’s and don’ts.

Do write a note to yourself on the card to remember something about the person, grab Card Munch and connect right away on LinkedIn, or/and commit to memory something about that person. That way, you can personalize the email, or at least capably feign that you remember conversing with them.

Don’t say you will and don’t – it’s far better to part with an “it’s great to have met you” than an “I’ll email you” that you don’t mean. Because there is always next year’s conference, and you know who’s likely to be there? That guy you didn’t follow through on. And really, who enjoys awkward?

ROI: Build relationships instead of awkwardness.

5.) Give Yourself Sunday

Many conferences are in great cities, but not necessarily in places I’d visit again on my own. As such, one of my favorite indulgences at the end of a conference is to take Sunday (in my field, the day after the last day of the conference), and spend it in the city. While my colleagues are crawling out of bed at 5am for a flight home, I’m sleeping in a little, enjoying breakfast, and taking in historical and cultural sites.

I like to finish by taking transit to the airport, so long as it’s reasonable, because it allows you to see more of the real city you are in and get a feel for it. I might get home a teensy bit late that night, but I feel good about having explored the place I visited. You can always nap on the plane.

ROI: Be where you are, experience the city, and learn a thing or two.

There you have it, five tips for conferencing like a pro – or at least getting value for your time.

Rhiannon MacDonnell is a PhD Candidate at the Haskayne School of Business, and teaches in both Human Resources and Marketing. She holds an MSc from the University of Calgary and a BA from the University of Waterloo. Find Rhiannon online at www.RhiannonMacDonnell.com or on Twitter at @Rhiannon.

]]>http://business.financialpost.com/executive/business-education/five-tips-for-conferencing-like-a-pro-andor-getting-value-out-of-the-experience/wcm/806ae6ec-67ab-4fef-b2a0-33f50a940120/feed0rmacdonnellWhat Adele and the Strategic Growth Forum Have in Commonhttp://business.financialpost.com/entrepreneur/what-adele-and-the-strategic-growth-forum-have-in-common/wcm/f2a936be-4bf7-49ad-9752-de02a6a64231
http://business.financialpost.com/entrepreneur/what-adele-and-the-strategic-growth-forum-have-in-common/wcm/f2a936be-4bf7-49ad-9752-de02a6a64231#respondWed, 09 Nov 2011 16:13:39 +0000http://business.financialpost.com/?p=110092]]>I’ve been indulging in an Adele binge for the past few days and often find myself musing how fun my job would be if I were her producer. Imagine having a voice like that to play with. I could have her singing the Hokey-Pokey and you’d still feel it in your bones… Shaking it all about.

I imagine the organizers of Ernst & Young’s Strategic Growth Forum may be similarly tickled by their job. I don’t envy the logistics team, accommodating 2000 people with high standards, but beyond that, yip yip yippee! The activity schedule could be “9 a.m. to 9 p.m.: stand around and talk,” and I doubt anyone would regret their ticket. The attendees represent the top of their respective fields, making each day effortlessly interesting by virtue of who’s in the room. I feel like an anthropologist; I shall present thee my field notes.

Hi, I’m Gracen, a 22 year-old embarking on a week with an astonishing guest list, a stack of homework readings, and very fortunately, my sunscreen (I’m very smug about remembering it. Need sunscreen? You know who to call -tweet me @gracenjohnson). Ernst & Young is generously sending me to the SGF with fellow co-founders of mobile tech startup, Tradyo (Eran Henig, Gideon Hayden, and Ronen Benin) as the Most Outstanding Venture of The Next 36 ’11. We’re pretty jazzed about it, reunited under — I’ll call a spade a spade — absurdly lucky circumstances. I’ll be documenting the week and feeling thoroughly, rottenly spoiled. Blogger checking in.

Given the chance, I promise to say hi to the Beach Boys on Canada’s behalf. The Beach Boys! I was born in ’89 and even I am stoked.

]]>http://business.financialpost.com/entrepreneur/what-adele-and-the-strategic-growth-forum-have-in-common/wcm/f2a936be-4bf7-49ad-9752-de02a6a64231/feed01214adelegracenjohnsonMath means businesshttp://business.financialpost.com/executive/innovation-math-means-business/wcm/27846117-913d-42d4-bbb2-110b853b7cf4
http://business.financialpost.com/executive/innovation-math-means-business/wcm/27846117-913d-42d4-bbb2-110b853b7cf4#respondMon, 18 Jul 2011 17:35:38 +0000http://business.financialpost.com/?p=72979]]>That’s the message from the world’s leading mathematical scientists as they gather in Vancouver, July 18 to 22 for the 7th International Congress on Industrial and Applied Mathematics ( ICIAM 2011) – the world’s largest applied math conference, which takes place every four years. For the first time, the prestigious group is holding its meeting in Canada.

“It’s widely known that we live in an information-based world and mathematics is crucial to help us understand that information so we can use it to make smart decisions for the future,” said Dr. Arvind Gupta, President of ICIAM 2011 and CEO and Scientific Director of Mitacs, a Vancouver based, national research organization.

“In order for Canada to continue to innovate and advance economically, we need to maintain our mathematical competitiveness on a national and international scale and that means continued investment in mathematical studies, which includes ensuring students across disciplines receive a solid grounding in math and funding additional research in the area,” said Dr. Gupta, noting ICIAM 2011 is a significant event because it showcases the many areas of everyday life that mathematics now touches – including economic and finance, biology, medicine, climate change, sociology, and image and signal processing. Some examples of math applications to be discussed during the conference include:

Math and Cancer: Using breast cancer, prostate cancer and colorectal cancer as examples, ICIAM presenters will demonstrate how the growth patterns of common solid tumours – known as carcinomas and sarcomas – are being studied using mathematical equations to predict their size, shape and speed. They will illustrate how the math differs depending on the cell type and location of the tumour and how those differences are being used to more effectively target cancer therapies. Examples will also be unveiled to show how math is being used to investigate the role that cancer stem cells play in tumour growth and to further develop cancer treatments that work at a molecular level.

Math and the Environment: When the BP Oil spill occurred in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, mathematicians developed new diagnostic tools to forecast the location and timing of oil washing ashore in Louisiana and Florida. Without their input, tracking the spill would have been largely guesswork. Presenters at ICIAM 2011 will share theirexperiences in mapping the spill and demonstrate how mathematics is applied in order to fully understand the ongoing consequences, including how oil settles in sand and what the implications will be for coastal beach areas.

Math and Crowd Dynamics/Traffic Flow: When a population needs to be evacuated – either due to flooding in the case of Western Canada or potential radiation hazards in the case of Japan – mathematics is used to determine both the size of the area as well as the most effective route. Math also helps to determine the appropriate placement of traffic lights and signs to avoid congestion in everyday traffic. Looking forward, mathematicians are investigating the potential to use data collected from road sensors in order to make real-time decisions about traffic flow. They are also using mathematics to predict crowd behaviour, a useful tool for organizers of large events like the recent G20 Summit in Toronto and Stanley Cup Final in Vancouver.

Math and the Zoo: Using the zoo as an example, a session of the ICIAM will demonstrate how – rather than being a tame animal, confined to the classroom or university – math is a wild species, free to roam in the jungles of the world’s problems. Taking math on a “tour” around the zoo, presenters will share the mathematics of fish, penguins and other exotic creatures. They will even use math to peer inside the brain of a bee, soar with the birds and help at the turnstiles at the zoo’s entrance.

It has already proven successful in Montreal and Vancouver. The half day event, comprised of numerous workshops led by Fasken lawyers, can count as three hours’ credit to the Law Society of Upper Canada’s mandatory CLE requirements.

More information on the seminar, scheduled for April 27, 2011 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, is available online.

If you aren’t already aware, Jobs has been backing an emerging web language, HTML5, as a replacement for Flash. Adobe’s proprietary software has been around since 1996 and is nearly ubiquitous around the web, powering such video players as Youtube, Vimeo and Hulu. But that could change if Jobs has his way.

Here are some of Job’s comments from last night, courtesy of engadget:

On why Apple bet on HTML5’s future over that of Adobe’s Flash:

We choose what tech horses to ride, we look for tech that has a future and is headed up … We have a history of doing this. The 3 1/2 floppy. We made that popular. We got ride of the floppy altogether in the first iMac. We got rid of serial and parallel ports. You saw USB first in iMacs. We were one of the first to get rid of optical drives, with the MacBook Air. And when we do this, sometimes people call us crazy … Sometimes you have to pick the right horses. Flash looks like it had its day but it’s waning, and HTML5 looks like it’s coming up.

On the dispute over Apple and Adobe:

Our goal is really easy – we just made a tech decision. We aren’t going to make an effort to put this on our platform. We told Adobe to show us something better, and they never did. It wasn’t until we shipped the iPad that Adobe started to raise a stink about it. We weren’t trying to have a fight, we just decided to not use one of their products. They made a big deal of it – that’s why I wrote that letter. I said enough is enough, we’re tired of these guys trashing us.

Jobs’ decision to back the emerging web langauge of HTML5 over Adobe’s Flash could potentially affect a lot of web design firms in Canada. Read our feature on what Canadian firms that employ Flash developers think, and who they predict will emerge the victor in the Flash/HTML5 war.